Pakistan has one last opportunity to sign off from the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 with a victory, as the Fatima Sana-led side meets host Sri Lanka in the final league match at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

In a forgettable outing for Pakistan, one department to take pride in has been its bowlers, who have inflicted notable scares. Spinner Sadia Iqbal has often been in the thick of things and impressed many in her maiden World Cup.

“I’ve learned quite a lot. This was a huge event, and unfortunately, we couldn’t perform as well as we wanted. But there’s so much we’ve learned from it, and we’ll go back home and work hard on those areas,” she said ahead of Friday’s clash.

“Before coming here, we had very good preparation, especially for the spinners. Fatima and Diana (Baig) formed a strong combination with the new ball — they were bowling really well and setting things up nicely. We tried to continue the momentum that they started,” she said.

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Pakistan will also be wary of an amped-up Sri Lankan side, which enters its last league game with a win in the bag and plenty of confidence.

“After winning the previous match (against Bangladesh), everyone in the team is in a good mindset and well prepared for tomorrow’s game with the same mentality,” said Harshitha Samarwickrama.

The Lankans will hope to make it two-in-two and salvage one win in front of their home crowd. For Samarawickrama, it will also be about converting starts into bigger scores.

“I managed to get a start in three games but couldn’t go on to make a big score. I think that was due to some poor shot selection in certain situations,” she admitted. “I’ve made some adjustments, and I hope to play well in tomorrow’s game”.

Published on Oct 23, 2025